Impact of W.V. and Widening Majority in Congress

Updated on May 14th, 2008 @ 12:00pm
Source: Associated Press

IN THE HEADLINES

Clinton's W.Va. victory doesn't slow Obama's march to the Democratic presidential nomination ... Democrats widen majority in Congress with win in Mississippi special election

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Clinton's W.Va. victory does little to slow Obama

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) - Hours after being routed by Hillary Rodham Clinton in West Virginia, Barack Obama picked up two more superdelegates, offering fresh recognition from Democratic leaders of his inevitable nomination.

An embattled Clinton is urging party leaders to take a hard look at West Virginia, which she won with 67 percent of the vote. But her victory did little if anything to knock Obama off stride as he approaches the delegate totals needed to give him the presidential nomination.

It did, however, expose in stark terms his disadvantage with blue-collar voters, fueling Clinton's last-gasp argument to party VIPs that she's the Democrat with broad appeal against Republican John McCain.

"Choose who you believe will make the strongest candidate in the fall," she said at her Charleston rally in a pitch aimed at superdelegates. She was returning to Washington to meet Wednesday with some of them.

"The White House is won in the swing states," she said, "and I am winning the swing states."

Obama isn't ceding the latter point.

His campaign announced his pickup Wednesday of two superdelegates: Rep. Peter Visclosky of Indiana and Democrats Abroad chair Christine Schon Marques.

Also endorsing Obama were three former Securities and Exchange Commission chairmen - William Donaldson, David Ruder, and Arthur Levitt Jr., who was appointed by former President Clinton. The campaign released a joint statement by the former SEC chiefs, well as former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, that praised Obama's "positive leadership and judgment" on economic issues.

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Miss. Democrat wins House seat in special election

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - It's becoming a disturbing trend for Republicans: losing traditional GOP strongholds to Democrats in some hard-fought congressional races.

It happened again Tuesday, as Travis Childers beat Greg Davis in a special election to replace Republican Roger Wicker, who served in the House since 1994 and was appointed to the U.S. Senate to fill the seat vacated by Trent Lott.

Childers' win will give him the chance over the next several months left in the seat's two-year term to build a fundraising and publicity advantage as he heads into November's general election. He will again face Davis, as well as two other opponents.

Childers' win gave Democrats a 236-199 edge over Republicans in Congress.

Earlier this year, Democrats captured the Illinois district long represented by former Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert, who resigned from Congress. This month, Democrats claimed a seat in Louisiana that Republican Rep. Richard Baker vacated and that the GOP had held since 1974.

Childers is a socially conservative county official, while Davis is mayor of a fast-growing city across the state line from Memphis, Tenn.

Vice President Dick Cheney campaigned for Davis the day before the special election, and Davis ran ads trying to tie Childers to Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the national Democratic Party's policies.

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THE DELEGATE BREAKDOWN

Barack Obama: 1,885

Hillary Rodham Clinton: 1,717

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THE DEMOCRATS

Hillary Rodham Clinton is in the District of Columbia. Barack Obama discusses the economy with workers and holds a rally in Michigan.

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THE REPUBLICANS

John McCain raises campaign cash in Columbus, Ohio.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"When I came to West Virginia, it took people a while to accept me. Barack is new to West Virginia, and the Clintons are not new to West Virginia." - West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a supporter of Democrat Barack Obama who lost the state's Democratic presidential primary to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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STAT OF THE DAY:

About six in 10 Democratic voters in West Virginia supported Hillary Rodham Clinton's proposal to suspend the federal gas tax for the summer and three-quarters of those voted for her, according to exit polls.

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Compiled by Ann Sanner.

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